Athanasius Treweek

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Major Athanasius Pryor "Ath" Treweek, the son of Walter Henry Treweek, who came to Australia in the mid-1890s, was an Australian academic, linguist and code-breaker.

After attending St Ignatius' College, Riverview, where he was dux in 1928, "Ath" Treweek (as he was generally known) won the 1932 Cooper Scholarship for first place in Latin and Greek examinations conducted by the University of Sydney, eventually going on to become a Professor of Classics at that very same institution.

In 1937, in anticipation of impending war, he had taught himself to read Japanese. Following the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he was seconded from the Australian Army to the American Sixth Fleet, where he was part of a team in Melbourne instrumental in breaking Japanese naval codes[1][2][3]. A Japanese success there would have been a major blow for the Allies. Decoded signals following the battle confirmed the Japanese had lost four aircraft carriers. This ended Japan's offensive capability: from then on, its strategy was defensive. It was the turning point.

He died in 1995.

[edit] Family

Athanasius Treweek's wife, Hazel Treweek (1919-2005), was an academic and teacher. They married in 1942 and had three daughters and one son. One daughter, Elizabeth, died shortly after birth. Their son, David Treweek, predeceased his mother.

[edit] Links

[edit] References

  1. ^ North, Richard. "Master codebreakers", University of Sydney Gazette, (retrieved 06 June 2006). 
  2. ^ Mack, John. "Academe and the Military", Website, 2002 (retrieved 06 June 2006). 
  3. ^ Donovan, Peter. "Sydney University, T.G. Room and Codebreaking in WWII", Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society, 2002 (retrieved 06 June 2006). 
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